


Work Hard, Play Hard

by Saradactyl



Category: Dangan Ronpa 3: The End of 希望ヶ峰学園 | The End of Kibougamine Gakuen | End of Hope's Peak High School, Super Dangan Ronpa 2
Genre: Alternate Universe - College/University, Alternate Universe - Sugar Daddy, Attempt at Humor, Awkward Hinata Hajime, Fluff and Humor, Gift Fic, Hinata Hajime/Komaeda Nagito-centric, Hinata is not amused, Komaeda Nagito Is a Little Shit, Komaeda Nagito's Luck Cycle, M/M, Sexual Humor, Sexual Tension, Suggestive Themes, Tsundere Hinata Hajime, people wanted this, when is he not?
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-12-21
Updated: 2021-02-20
Packaged: 2021-03-10 16:28:23
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 5
Words: 15,583
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28210158
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Saradactyl/pseuds/Saradactyl
Summary: "It's an offer you can't refuse."~Hinata Hajime has finally gotten into the college of his dreams but paying off tuition fees each semester will have him tipping into debt. Luckily, one of his new classmates offers him a deal which seems too good to be true.
Relationships: Hinata Hajime/Komaeda Nagito
Comments: 152
Kudos: 287





	1. Ambivalence

**Author's Note:**

> A LOT of people wanted a Sugar Daddy Komaeda so I was like "why not just give it to them?"  
> This is mainly a gift for a very good person, they're very cool and they know who they are!  
> I was super embarrassed to post this but I needed to write something fluffy, I've been writing too much angst lately.

Predictability was something that Hinata was not fond of. In fact, he absolutely hated it.

Taking teetering steps from his bed back to his desk, Hinata took the chance to catch his breath as he watched the chat flood. Basic replies with the same compliments and the same requests. The same words of gratitude came from him as he watched the number of viewers go down, hinting that he should probably end the stream soon. 

However, there was one thing he always had to do before signing off. He scanned the private comments, a chat where one would have to pay each stream in order to make their replies a priority. And there was one username that he saw pop up there every single time.

**LuckyNo_7: Your eyes crossed at one point.**

Hinata stared at the statement for a moment before covering his face with his hand, a nervous instinct. “Did they really? That’s embarrassing.” It really _was_ embarrassing. He hoped that the others hadn’t noticed.

**LuckyNo_7: I thought it was cute.**

If he could get any redder than he already was, he would. Compliments shouldn’t get him like this. Hinata receives them all the time, he should be responding with equanimity. He could only mumble a “thank you” while his message was lost along with the others that quickly came through. But another popped just as soon.

**LuckyNo_7: You’re very red. Go drink some water and rest**

Hinata swore he was going to blow a fuse every time this person commented. “Ha, looking out for me? That’s cute.”

Another couple of messages pushed the previous one up before they commented again.

**LuckyNo_7: Your ass is cute.**

He resisted the urge to roll his eyes, aware that a handful of people were still watching. Those were the type of comments he was most used to receiving but, for some reason, it felt different coming from this user. “Okay, don’t push your luck there, bud.”

**LuckyNo_7: Apologizes, but remember to take care of yourself!**

He hopped off after that and that’s when Hinata decided it was time to do the same. It was cleaning up afterward that he was never eager to do but it was a small price to pay at the end of his work. Besides, if he did well enough today, the tips might mean he has enough for what he’s saving up for.

Hinata didn’t feel like he lived a very adventurous life. Besides what he did for a job at the moment, he really couldn’t land something that would give him the proper experience for an actual profession. He was sure playing with himself in front of a camera wasn’t going to get him there but it paid part of the bills, for the time being, the other funds coming from his parents who lived cities away. He had a small close circle of friends, most of those who didn’t really know what he did for a living. Currently, going to community college wasn’t a struggle — he had more than decent grades in high school so he was a bit overqualified — but he already had his eyes set on his dream school. 

Yanking the sheets off his bed, Hinata threw them towards the hamper in the corner of his room before settling back in his seat and opening up a new tab. The anticipation was overwhelming as he waited for the bank’s website to load up and highlight his earnings. 

Hope’s Peak University was a prestigious college, making it immoderately priced. Hinata knew that he wouldn’t last with immediately switching from going to a free school to switching to a costly one so he had spent months putting most of his funds to the side so he wouldn’t be left with too much debt each semester.

The page finally loaded and Hinata grinned when he saw the money transferred into his account. Two semesters. He had enough for two semesters. It wasn’t a lot considering that would only last him a couple of months but it was definitely something.

A wave of relief washed over him and his immediate instinct was to pass out on his bare bed but he had to alert someone first. He kicked at the ground, launching himself across the room and to his phone on the nightstand. There was really only one friend he could call about this.

He pressed the contact number and propped up his phone against the lamp for better lighting. Within a few rings, a familiar face popped up on the screen. “Hey-” 

“Hinata-chan, it’s 10 pm!” The girl wandered across her own room before flopping on what was her own bed, multi-colored sheets adorning her bed and pillows lining the headboard. “Ibuki has morning classes tomorrow.”

“As if you were actually about to go to sleep,” he retorted. 

It was safe to say Mioda Ibuki was Hinata’s closest friend. She knew him since middle school and stuck with him, even when she got a scholarship for Hope’s Peak for her outstanding performance in the music industry. Mioda was also the only one who knew about Hinata’s _work_ and was pretty indifferent about it. 

“Oh, are you wearing what Ibuki thinks you are?” She was pretty encouraging about Hinata being able to be confident with himself and that often came with what she would buy him for gifts — 

— including the midriff top he was wearing. He ran his finger across the lace bordering his shoulders and glared at her, though it didn’t do much.

“Did you wear it on the show today? Did they like it? Ibuki has good taste! Black suits you and if you wore that chain-”

“Ibuki.” Hinata held up his hand and Mioda ceased her rambling. “Can I tell you what I called for and then you can sleep as you planned?”

Mioda shifted her head from side to side, closing her eyes and humming. “Hmm, _maybe_.”

After that, Hinata couldn’t wipe the grin off his face as he explained the situation. Mioda enthusiastically listened, nodding and gasping at moments that weren’t really necessary (but appreciated). He clapped his hands at the end and Mioda followed, applauding his 2-minute tale.

“So you’re coming next semester?”

Hinata nodded. “If all goes well.”

She let out a “woohoo” as she snuggled under her polka dot duvet, her psychedelic choice of hair fanned out on the pillow behind her. “We should celebrate!”

“How do you celebrate something like this?” Hinata pondered, pulling his own blanket over him. 

“Hang out with the guys!” she exclaimed. Then, she brought her phone closer and spoke in a hushed voice. “It’s me. _I’m_ the ‘guys.’ We could stop by a good sweets shop near the school! You can get a good look at the campus, too.”

Burying himself further under his covers, he let his mind circle the idea. "Wouldn't your... friends bump into us?”

Mioda looked to her side, seeming to go through a stack of papers, and shook her head. “Nope. No one has classes, as far as the list says.”

“You have a _list?”_

“Ibuki likes to keep tabs on her friends!” She propped her phone up on the nightstand and it was evident she wasn’t going to bed anytime soon but she was really pushing for Hinata to go to bed himself. “You’re not worried that one of your _fans_ will be a student?”

Hinata rolled his eyes. “Tag restrictions. Sweets seem like a good way to celebrate.” 

“Great, because you’re paying.” 

Mioda trilled 'how rich' and before Hinata could counter her, she ended the call with a quick “good night!” 

Huffing, Hinata threw his shirt off and across the room, landing it on his desk before switching off the light. Any other time, he probably would’ve spammed Mioda for hanging up so abruptly but he was in too much of a good mood to do so.

He was going to Hope’s Peak!

___

It was possible that some students were still wandering around the streets near the campus, taking a break in between classes to grab a snack. It was also possible that they would be future classmates so pulling out today’s outfit would have to keep those facts in mind.

A simple button down shirt and tie was his go-to but wearing a full-blown suit had crossed his mind. The school consisted of very talented students and everyone else had paid excessive bouts of money to get in. Hinata fit in neither of the groups so dressing to impress was not an insignificant concern. 

Of course, Mioda would argue that he looked fine in anything and maybe consider wearing something more devious but Hinata would be quick to turn the suggestions down. A shirt and tie was fine. Which tie would be the next question but he eventually fell back on the classic green one that he’s had since high school. It was a bit worn out, what used to be a striking forest green now dulled to a grayish sage, but it was the one he was most comfortable with. The other blue and black ties he had would just hang to rot in his closet.

Fussing over his outfit took longer than actually taking the bus to the address Mioda sent him. Crossing over gray and white bricks as he paced to the shop, he took note of the people who looked to be around his age. Most of them wore casual attire so it was hard for him to note who was a student and who was just loitering around. Some would come up with the school’s crest stitched on the back of their hoodies and Hinata would feel himself stand a little taller when they passed, trying his best to keep his eyes trained in front of him.

Was he a bit too concerned with how he was perceived? It was debatable but considering that no one even gave him a second glance, maybe his anxiety was tipping a bit _too_ much.

Hinata’s phone pinged and he paused, scanning the area before spotting his perky friend swinging her legs as she went through her own device. He made his way over to Mioda who quickly caught onto his presence, dropping her phone on the table with a clunk, and jumped to her feet. “Took you long enough.”

“I’m 10 minutes late,” he spoke as he dropped onto the seat across from her. “Don’t exaggerate.”

“Ibuki does _not_ exaggerate. She tells all truths,” Mioda rebutted, propping up her menu to split the table in half. “Pick something. The waiter came twice already.”

Hinata was quick to scan the menu before pointing at a yogurt ramune, not really hungry for food as much as he was craving to blab about his mixed emotions about the situation. Mioda settled for a cream anmitsu, calling the waiter over and listing their orders.

“Well, how long do you think you’ll be able to keep paying for the semesters?” Mioda finally asked, flicking at the laminated paper before folding it up and putting it to the side. 

“I have enough for two at the moment,” he sighed. “I need a job if I’m going to keep attending but employment rates are so low that they aren’t accepting people.”

“Or Haji-kun just sucks.”

“I do not _suck,_ ” he told her. “It’s merely just awful luck on my part.”

“ _Suck_ in a different context,” she teased. “But have you asked about a financial aid packet?”

“It’s not as much as I could get, considering I applied as a transfer. Having my parents partially sustaining me does nothing much either. You think there are any places nearby that might be hiring?”

Mioda pondered on the question before shrugging. “Sometimes the academy offers some internships if you want to look into that. But you have to get settled on a major before doing that and besides your side job and your parents, you also have...”

She trailed off as the server came back with their orders, placing the agar treat and a packaged bottle of soda at the center of the table. Knowing he would have to be the one to pay, he was glad that Mioda at least picked something on the cheaper side of the menu. He peeled off the seal and pushed the opener in before taking a small sip while Mioda toyed with the jelly scattered around in her cup. 

“And I also _have_..?”

She shoveled through her dessert before looking up, her cheeks puffed out from stuffing her face. “Hmm?”

“You were going to say something?”

“Come on!” She grinned and kicked at him playfully from under the table. “You know what I’m getting at.”

He peered at her from above his drink, narrowing his eyes. “No...what _are_ you getting at?”

She shoved another spoonful of anmitsu in her mouth as her grin subtly morphed into a smirk. “We talked about this. Ibuki signed you up for that website, remember? We were talking about it a couple of months agooo…”

“What?”

“The…” Her smile wobbled a bit. “Wait, Ibuki doesn’t like where this is going.”

“Me _neither_ ,” he spoke. “What did you do?”

Mioda picked up her phone, the anxiousness in her expression becoming more and more apparent by the second. Something about the situation made Mioda feel on edge. Her finger stopped scrolling and she looked to the side, not ready to give eye contact. “So remember when we talked about how having people who would just, like, give you money would be fun? Like, as a joke?”

“ _Yes,_ I’m aware,” he said, taking another drink from his bottle. “As a _joke_.”

“Well...I thought that maybe we could make that a possibility, at least for you.”

Sliding her phone across the table, Hinata glanced down at the screen which was opened up to a screen with floating white and red hearts bordering the sides. “Ibuki is this…”

There was no reason to be asking her but his name pasted under the big cursive letter at the top of the website had him staring at it for more than he should’ve. Mioda peeked over at the phone and tried to make eye contact with Hinata but he was too absorbed with scrolling through the contents, trying to make sense of what he was looking at.

“Ibuki,” he choked out. “You did _not--_ ”

“Aha, I mean, you’re making more money, right?”

It took every bit of energy to not scream it out loud but it made no difference when he shouted anyway.

“You signed me up for a Sugar Daddy website?!”


	2. Adversity

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> He smiled. “Hey, Akamatsu. Something wrong?”
> 
> She ran her fingers through her hair and gave him an “eh.” She quickly added, “Would you mind keeping it down at night, just a bit?”
> 
> He blinked. “What?”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Guys, I posted one chapter. One!
> 
> Where did all these people come from??

Eyes focused on the pair as Hinata’s shock slowly morphed into embarrassment. He slunk back into his seat and scrolled through the phone, curling in on himself as if that made him invisible. 

Hinata was surprised how detailed his profile actually was and he felt the heat creeping down his neck when he saw the profile picture. He didn’t even remember taking it and, if it was up to him, it wouldn’t have ever made it on the internet. She had even linked his camboy account, something Hinata would be sure to remove soon. The website allowed donations to be made to direct attention to certain profiles and he almost slammed his head against the table when he saw just how many people had sent him tips over the course of a couple of months. He went through the donator’s accounts and, with how much they’ve been donating, a few things finally clicked.

Remembering the funds in his banking account, Hinata realized that the tips were far too large of an amount. He was much too caught up in how much he was making that it flew over his head exactly _where_ it was coming from.

“How did you--no, _when_ did you even set this up?”

Mioda shrugged, playing with the ends of her hair. “Maybe...3 months ago?”

“Ibuki…”

She scooted out of her seat and quickly came to his side, moving on to where the donations were listed. “But look! Look, look, look! This is a good opportunity for you to make money without exerting yourself.”

Hinata gnawed at the inside of his cheek, making it clear that he wasn’t sold. Only someone so desperate would post themselves on a Sugar Daddy website in hopes of catching someone’s eye. Obviously, it was working in his case but he wasn’t that low. The whole premise of the situation made his stomach coil with disgust.

“No,” was his blatant response. “Can’t trust anyone you just grab off the internet. Besides, what am I supposed to give them?”

Mioda learned over the back of the chair, her nails tapping against the phone. Donations weren’t for nothing, they always expected something in return and Hinata was sure he wasn’t going to physically meet any of these people.

“You can send them...nudes?”

He turned and looked at her with a flummoxed expression. “Are you serious?”

She, for some reason, seemed just as puzzled. “What?”

“Ibuki, they’re all like 80! I’m not going to send them my nudes."

"...you have nudes? That was a joke.”

Hinata gritted his teeth. "Ibuki…they're old."

“Hey, not all of them!” Focusing on a couple of donators, she pointed at a faceless icon. He focused on where her finger stopped, clicking on the profile. The fact he didn't post a picture of himself made it easier to decide that Hinata wasn't going for this guy, not that he was planning on going for any. “Look, this guy is 22. That's only a three-year gap."

Most of his answers to the _get-to-know-you_ questions were bland and generic, not given much thought to. The reason why he was on the site was left blank. The only information that could be deemed trustworthy, if any, was the factually based ones. He listed himself as a 22-year-old student studying both literature and psychology. That was hard to believe considering that he wasn't posted on the website to _receive_ money.

"Komaeda Nagito," Mioda mumbled. "Sounds familiar."

"Well, it's not the most common of names," Hinata spoke, aggravation still expressed through his tone. "I can't believe this."

The only thing stopping Hinata from deleting the account immediately was the immensity of some of these handouts. They definitely made the difference in when he was actually going to be able to attend Hope's Peak. Counting his earnings, he possibly wouldn't have been able to go there as quickly with just what he obtained, the website's costs tipped the balance. That made it all the more frustrating when he slid Mioda's phone back across the table and started getting ready to leave.

Mioda picked up her phone, the screen still set on that particular man's account. She knew she recalled the name somewhere but if she forgot, it couldn't have been that important. "So...are you going to get rid of it?"

Hinata huffed. "If you're asking about the account, we'll see."

"So you're considering it?"

"Ibuki--"

"Just hear Ibuki's logic!" She grabbed her bag and skipped over to him. Hinata's pacing slowed just a bit for her to catch up as she began. "If you don't want to do it, just leave it be. _Buuuttt_ , if you're thinking about it, just a teeny little bit, shoot them an email! You can have an old man die happy by sending them your--”

“Ibuki.”

“Komaeda sounds promising,” she said instead.

"No, he does not," Hinata rebutted, shaking his head. "But text me the account information. I'll look into it more."

Mioda nodded vigorously at the sentence and parted ways with him to run into the Academy buildings before she was late for another class. Hinata glanced up at the tall towers of what made the university: tanned red bricks reaching high enough to graze the clouds and children classed with their beige vests following Mioda's lead past the large gates bordering the edifice. Hinata couldn't recall if he even had a red tie to sync with the rest of the crowd, fiddling with his piteous green one. 

He pushed forward, leaving the school building behind and making his way towards the bus stop. If it was any consolation to himself, still having a few days before his semester started meant he could focus on the task at hand. And maybe buy a new tie. It wouldn't be too hard to send a couple of people some emails, get to know them better, and see if it would work out. Most probably, it wouldn't, but it would be alright to give it a shot. 

Then he recalled Mioda linking his camboy account in the bio and that was probably going to be the deal-breaker. He would just have to work out being subtle about it but he wouldn't possibly give them the chance if they have already seen him any less than decent.

He opened his account through the link Mioda sent him and hovered over Komaeda’s name. He hadn't strategized how he would go about approaching any of these people. They were mainly men, which Hinata had no qualms about. It wasn't like he would be lying in bed with any of them. His most promising option would be to go for one of the younger guys if it so happens that they want to meet. Hinata hoped that wouldn't be the case, the most he would be willing to do at the moment is a voice call. But he could always drop it, it wasn't like there was a contract bond he couldn't break.

As much as the situation was utterly displeasing, maybe something could come from it. Pressing his back against the bus sign, he finally got the courage to open up Komaeda's account once more and grabbed his email from the description. Composing a new email, he went through the different ways he could go about this. 

_"Hey, I heard you were interested in me"_ wouldn’t work. He wasn't that much of a catch so it might not be because they were interested. 

" _Thanks_ _for the donation"_ made him sound like a charity case. 

Would a simple " _hey"_ be too casual?

He went for it, sending a " _hey, how are you"_ to the man before tucking his phone away just as the bus arrived. If this goes downhill, he was going to have Mioda's head.

___

Hinata stared at the contact number, contemplating whether he should be making the call. 

His parents wouldn't care too much about him going to Hope’s Peak, he was sure they would be delighted, but he hadn't even told them about what he does for cash on the side. It was obvious that it would be preferable to have it stay that way.

After moments of deliberation, he went into his text messages and sent one to his mother. The last messages they sent were 2 weeks ago but he could ignore that for now. This was important enough for them to call him back, right?

Sighing, he put his phone back in his pocket and picked up one of the cereal boxes off the shelf. Those problems weren’t his largest concern at the moment, making sure he didn’t starve was a far greater deal. As much as he hated to admit it, he was a couponer and there was already a sale happening at the supermarket so it was basically a magnet for people like him. 

He had become accustomed to counting the bills and calculating the cost off the top of his head, making many of his friends mention that he should major in accounting. It was a possibility that could be put on the list but nothing appealed to him at the moment. His only focus was to live sustainably at the moment until he could go through university without drowning in debt. 

As immediate as he texted his parents, a vibration in his shorts almost led him to drop the tea in his hand. There was a spark of hope when he rapidly pulled out his phone and flitted through the messages. It instantly left him when he just saw it was an email from the Academy. 

**To Hinata Hajime,**

**We hope this email finds you well. According to the last letter, you had requested an extra abundance of financial aid resources. However, we have balanced the needs for every student and aid comes on a first-come, first-serve basis.**

**Your late entry to the recent semester makes it so we can only give as much as we had listed in our previous email. If any other concerns come up, don’t hesitate to contact the Academy using the following email addresses and we hope to see you in the next semester!**

Hinata was surely not going to contact them after this. His next attempt would probably be to badger the counselor but that wouldn’t get him anywhere either. He didn’t want to drop out of the university as quickly as he came but at this rate, pulling out a massive loan would be his best option and it meant he would have to pay it off later on which he surely wouldn't be able to do. No part-time job would help in that case, he would have to find a way to work full-time while being a student, which was essentially impossible. 

Not having the energy to sulk about it, he picked up whatever he could remember he needed and took the longer path to his apartment. He should probably take Mioda’s advice and decide on a major so he could possibly earn something. 

His steps on the way back were feeble, his reluctance to face the situation head-on apparent with every track. He would deem himself incredibly unlucky in these instances. People have faced worse, that much was clear, but misfortune seemed to have been fluctuating. The best way to combat the issue would be to find a job. He didn’t know how exactly he would find one but anything that would get him enough money to fend for himself. 

Any prior work experience that he had wouldn’t qualify but he had worked in retail in the past. He’s glad that he no longer works there, too many rules that didn’t make sense to him. The “customer is always right” was only a motto that worked when he hadn’t worked with them. It didn’t help with seeking for work when they found out that he was fired for putting his hands on a shopper. In his defense, they were getting way too close so a fist in the face should’ve been expected.

Pushing his bags to one arm, he dug through his pocket to fish out his keycard and entered his humble apartment building. The hallways were narrow and the lighting was dim and yellow, his feet becoming accustomed to the routine of stepping across tiles speckled with brown and black. It was homely and a decent space away to be independent. Maybe he wasn’t ready to be independent, he was barely staying on top of bills.

He took the elevator up to the top floor and dragged himself to the end of the hall, the jingling of someone else’s keys, prompting him to peek before entering his own home. His neighbor came out looking rather exhausted but as soon as they made eye contact, she lit up.

“Ah, Hajime?”

He smiled. “Hey, Akamatsu. Something wrong?”

She ran her fingers through her hair and gave him an “eh.” She quickly added, “Would you mind keeping it down at night, just a bit?”

He blinked. “What?”

With time, Hinata noticed the pink dusting her cheeks as the seconds of silence passed. “Aha, maybe... tell your partner to go a little easier on you next... _time_?”

A few more seconds of awkward staring and Hinata’s nervousness left him giggling a bit. All he could muster “sorry, won’t happen again” and Akamatsu chimed in with her own weak laughter as they both quickly pushed into their apartments. 

He sunk to the floor and banged his head against the door, mortified. Now he needed to invest in sound panels. Or a mic. Or move. All three would be preferable. He wouldn’t be ‘working’ so late next time.

Snapping him out of wallowing in shame was another buzz coming from his phone. He let out a breath, pulling it out and seeing a new email.

**K. Nagito: Why are you contacting me?**

Still pissed at the events seemingly toppling over him one by one, he frowned and was quick to let the anger fuel his response.

**H. Hajime: What the fuck?**

  
  


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The comments on the last chapter were very enjoyable to read and I'm glad to see people are enjoying this but as a disclaimer, the Mature tag will definitely change soon.
> 
> It seems like a bit of a slow build at the moment, but it's really going to pick up in a couple of chapters. Like, real quick...


	3. Dubious

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Komaeda sent another question into the thread before he could cut him off.
> 
> K. Nagito: Care to make a bet then? You'll have to break that rule of yours for just a bit.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Another chapter, another moment of dealing with Hinata's anxiety. 
> 
> Quickly wrote this chapter before I lost motivation so I apologize in advance if some stuff trips you up.
> 
> EDIT: Only after I post the chapter do I notice my spelling errors,,

As soon as he sent the message, his anger simmered and it dawned on him that he had already messed up. Komaeda was his best chance at rendering some kind of relationship with any of his options, even if he was the least appealing because of how vacant and unusual his answers were for the questions he filled out. 

Hinata might be chary of this whole situation but Komaeda did not sound like the safest person to be contacting. Maybe he should take Mioda’s other suggestion and contact an older man. At least then, he could probably throw a jab at them if they try anything. This was a mistake.

When he was about to search up _how to delete an email off a sugar daddy website_ , his phone pinged again and the pink heart icon popped up, followed by Komaeda’s name.

**K. Nagito: Did I aggravate you? I’m sorry but I’m just trying to understand why you would waste your time sending me a message.**

Being read through an email, Hinata couldn’t tell whether Komaeda was being haughty or genuinely confused. Fighting fire with fire would not end well so he decided to assume the latter, not wanting to end on bad terms with the first guy he contacted. He also had to make sure he wasn’t leading him on, anyone with money was someone Hinata was not willing to trifle with. At least since he’s younger than everyone else, he might be easier to speak with. It grants the possibility that he has little experience and that makes Hinata feel a bit better about the arraignment. 

**H. Hajime: No, I just wanted to talk to you since you’ve been spending your money on me. I appreciate it but I would also like to know what you’re getting out of it.**

He didn’t know how else he was supposed to phrase it, he _was_ grateful but now it just sounded like he was only in it for the money. He couldn’t argue that wasn’t the case, however, but Komaeda didn’t necessarily need to know that just yet. Though, it was obvious given that the website they were chatting over. Since the age gap was slim, maybe they could actually get along if he played his cards right. 

**K. Nagito: Do I necessarily have to “want” anything?**

He was tempted to say “yes”, there was no way he _wasn’t_ doing this without something in return, but that would leave the conversation on an awkward note.

**H. Hajime: Well, I guess you can spend money on others if you want. But why me?**

Komaeda was responding quickly which made Hinata suspicious, considering it was a school day and he took two majors. He should not have enough free time to reply instaner.

**K. Nagito: Many things but your profile picture is very eye-catching.**

Hinata would have to ask where Mioda even got that photo of him but it made sense as to why it would drag in suspicious characters. Unfortunately, he had to predict as much, making him slightly less nervous and a bit more _bored_ with how he imagined this chat could continue. He picked himself off the ground and started undoing his tie while trying to think of some snarky comment to add to the thread when Komaeda beat him to it.

**K. Nagito: Sorry if that makes you uncomfortable. At first glance, I found your freckles to be cute. But I swear I'm not that shallow!**

_Oh._

Now he didn’t know what to say. _“Thanks?”_ Komaeda’s response seemed a bit too pure for someone who’s supposedly posing as a sugar daddy. The thought of that made him cringe. He didn’t even call his own father _dad_ , how was he supposed to fall under the wing of someone who would have the title of his _daddy?_

He almost dropped his phone at the thought.

**H. Hajime: It’s fine. That was surprisingly cute coming from you.**

**K. Nagito: Coming from me? What did you expect me to say? I’m sure whatever you were thinking, I probably already thought through.**

Definitely not something about his freckles. But at least that cleared up that Komaeda wasn’t entirely pure, only pushing the thought that he could’ve possibly seen his show.

**H. Hajime: You’re taking on the role as a sugar daddy, forgive me if I’m a bit skeptical.**

**K. Nagito: You’re forgiven. But if I may ask, why do you have an account on here if you're doubtful?**

Explaining to him the whole ordeal with Mioda was not needed. Everyone had similar circumstances for being on the site, he didn’t know what Komaeda wanted to hear. He also couldn’t tell if Komaeda was being audacious with accepting his apology either, these would be those points in time where talking face to face would be easier but he wasn’t planning on being taken out so soon.

**H. Hajime: It’s not easy going to college and working on the side. Just trying to make the load a bit easier on myself.**

**K. Nagito: Well, I hope that’s working for you. I’m lucky enough to not suffer the same issues but if you’re contacting me for more money, I can try and do something about that.**

**H. Hajime: Don’t concern yourself too much with that. I’m more wanting to know what you do in your free time, you didn’t put much in your description.**

The consistent roll of responses paused there. 

Hinata waited a few minutes to see if anything would come up but it seemed he was done talking for now. Komaeda was just drawing more questions upon the ones he already had, he wasn’t completely sure if chatting with him was the right move. Nothing necessarily seemed off with the conversation but he refrained from saying much that didn’t answer Hinata’s questions directly. He also had a lot of inquiries himself which overpowered the _one_ question Hinata had the chance of dropping in. If that wasn’t a sure sign he was interested in _something_ , he didn’t know what would be.

The negative connotation that comes with the term _“sugar daddy”_ might just be based on hearsay. Though, he still couldn’t ignore the fact that he’s speaking to someone he’s never met before, doesn’t have a profile picture, and was giving him money for _nothing_ in return. Giving him the opportunity to get to know him better only gave him leverage when he actually ended up wanting something.

He put his phone to the side and decided to put the problem aside for now, he had to do something other than stress.

___

“You are _screaming_ fresh meat, Haji-kun.”

Shuffling through Hinata’s clothes drawer, Mioda had offered her assistance to pick out his outfit for his first day. Hinata had already set his mind on looking professional, even as his friend argued that “no one cares.” He had pressed the wrinkles out of one of his newer buttoned-down shirts and was currently sorting through his collection of ties.

“How do I _not_ have a red tie?”

“You should just wear a choker,” Mioda told him. She gasped and turned towards him, holding up a white t-shirt a bit too small to cover him up completely. “We could twin!”

“No, thank you.” 

His phone buzzed but he was too busy that it didn’t concern him. Mioda had tried seeing what was going on as it was a constant ping every 5 to 10 minutes but she didn’t know his password. As great of a friend as she was, he couldn’t really trust her with his belongings. She continued to rummage through his belongings and let out another shout of surprise as she pulled out yet another shirt. “You have a lot of cute stuff! You should wear these rather than a tie.”

The shirt she held up was mainly just lace of a very dark shade of blue, thin straps hooked over her thumbs. “Can Ibuki keep this one?”

“If we can find a way to get a red tie in time for classes, sure.”

Mioda quickly grabbed her purse and pulled out a scarlet nail polish bottle. “Hand over the black tie!”

After struggling to put all his stuff away before Mioda tainted his clothing, he had settled for a blue tie and they quickly rushed out of the building before they were late for the first class of the day.

"Coming to the orientation would have made this much easier for you." Mioda hopped on the bus and settled in a seat before anyone else nabbed it.

"It would have," he affirmed, grabbing a pole as the movement of the bus tipped him over. "But I'm sure it won't be _that_ bad. It's not too tough to get used to a new school."

"The campus is very different from other universities, that’s the thing.” She stretched her arms out to exaggerate her point. “Like super duper big! Some people are very very _very_ funky, too. Classes are fun though. Ibuki’s taking a wine class!”

 _Funky_ , when coming from Mioda, usually meant bad in a way that even she couldn’t handle it. But people with a crummy attitude were nothing new so he easily overlooked her warning. “So you get drunk? How is that allowed?”

“Unfortunately, no...but you can’t take it till you turn 20.” She went through the list of classes she would recommend since Hinata had gone for the basic core subjects, giving Mioda another thing to pester him about. “Little Hajime will just have to wait!”

“Not like I was planning on taking it,” he countered, rolling his eyes whilst checking his phone. He was hoping to get there earlier to explore a bit but he’d get the chance to do that another time. 

His gaze went to the row of pink heart icons at the top of his screen, registering that this was what was disrupting them while getting ready. All of these couldn’t possibly be from Komaeda, he barely had anything to say about himself, to begin with. Scrolling through his notifications, there were definitely not from Komaeda. Mioda seemed to sense Hinata’s distress and peered over his arm to see his list of emails, her face mimicking his. “That’s a lot of dudes.”

He nodded numbly, hitting the bottom of his list, and tried not to scream. “Why…why is this happening _now?_ ”

“Did you want it to happen later?” She leaned her weight on his arm, pulling the phone down to her level. “They’re offering a _lotta_ lotta money.”

“Yeah, I already have one guy to deal with.” He cleared his emails and tucked his phone away. If things with Komaeda didn’t work out, he would try his chances at another person. Though, the whole ordeal made him feel like he was hooking up with who paid the best. Quite frankly, that _was_ how the events were leading. Hinata was hoping for that, to some degree.

“So you spoke with that guy, huh?”

“Yeah,” he mumbled, not saying anything more.

By the time they approached the gates of the Academy, Hinata was a mess of stress and anxiety. Often, he perceives himself as so _painfully_ average that anyone would forget his face but he was obviously a fish out of water surrounded by these people. He tried to keep up with Mioda’s nimble footsteps as she bounced across the path, the route engraved in her mind. She walked them towards the door labeled _“common area”_ and turned on her heels to point it out.

“Ibuki is usually here when classes are out so if _little_ Hajime needs anything, just come down here!”

The large oak doors daunted him but he just gave her the ‘ok’ and pulled out his phone for his schedule, he was not going to be late on the first day. Mioda opened the doors and Hinata got a peek of the red carpets and plush couches as she sprinted towards a peppy looking woman who gave off an atmosphere similar to Mioda’s energetic being. She hopped over one of the floor cushions before leaping into the student’s open arms, _“Akane”_ from what Mioda was yelling as she ran.

With some time to spare, he decided it would be best to badger the counselor, hoping they would be able to do something about the insufficient amount of funds he’s getting. 

Mioda was right about the campus being a maze. Every wall was an exact replica of each other and no distinguishing features other than the cracks in old wood told him where he was headed. It was of a much bigger scale than his old college, he could match names and faces by the second month. Something about the deviation of switching universities distressed Hinata more than it should have. He walked past the same doors for a while before finally coming across what seemed to be where he was looking for. He expected there to be a line at the counselor's office but he found the seats to be occupied by one student. He could hear her acrylic nails tapping at her screen while her blonde pigtails swayed with the movement of her head. 

She seemed friendly enough, though the way she chose to wear her uniform made her seem a bit intimidating. Before he made a decision about whether or not to approach her, she made it for him.

The student looked up from her phone and waved, but it felt like anything other than a welcoming gesture. "What do you want?"

"I'm...looking for the counselor's office. Is this it?"

Her eyes kept him from rocking on his feet and Hinata was thinking back to when Mioda told him some people were _"funky."_

His anxiety was for naught when she finally gave him a grin and got up from her seat. "Ooooh, you're _new_!" As if it wasn't obvious already, he nodded, explained that he was a first-year transfer, and she pointed a red finger at him. "Shoulda known, who wears the school’s blazer with a blue tie?"

He instinctively clutched the tie at the mention of it but she brushed his action off with a laugh. "Hey, hey, no need to be so frightened! I don't _bite_."

 _Surely_. She strode towards him and stuck out her hand. "I'm Enoshima Junko! And this isn't the counselor's office, unfortunately for you."

Hinata hesitantly took her hand, the handshake short and quick before she pulled back and looked down at her palm. "You're sweating a ton, freshie."

"Ah, sorry." The awareness of how clammy he had gotten made him stuff his hands in his pockets, the look Enoshima gave him getting harder to bear.

"No problem, the office is down the corridor to your left. There are not many people during the morning classes so she should be available. And this…" she pointed behind her to the door she was waiting by, "is the principal's office. So just be sure not to make that mistake again!"

Her voice was sugary and Hinata felt both comfortable and a bit tense with being around her. He usually wouldn’t trust a person with nails that were dangerously close to being longer than their actual finger but it was his first day, he really couldn’t be picky. "Thank you, Enoshima."

He turned his back to her and started down the direction she gave him when she spoke "not even gonna give me a name?" 

The school was fairly big and he didn't think it was of any significance to tell her his name when they weren't going to bump into each other very often. "Oh, um, it's Hajime. Hinata Hajime."

"Quite boring for a name," she said. "But you've got a cute face so I'll let it slide!"

Quickly waving over his shoulder, he glanced down at his phone again for the time to see another little heart floating at the top of his screen. The number of people requesting to speak with him _now_ was unlucky. But, thankfully, that didn't seem to be the case this time.

**K. Nagito: My majors should say it all, really. Read and paint on the occasion, I'm not one for outdoorsy activities.**

Hinata looked at the time: 9:43 AM. Classes didn't start for quite some time so he could spare a couple of minutes to chat. However, he was _really_ done beating around the bush. 

**H. Hajime: I don't particularly mind that. But I would really like to get straight to the point if that’s alright.**

**K. Nagito: I have already taken an educated guess at where this was headed but go on.**

Glancing over his shoulder, no one was roaming the halls so he hurriedly typed in a message. Even then, he still couldn’t bring himself to commit.

**H. Hajime: In all honesty, you seem like a good person and I would be willing, if you would like, to form some sort of bond with you.**

**K. Nagito: With me of all people? I'm very flattered but how do you know exactly that I'm trustworthy enough?**

_...what?_ Komaeda was right but having it stated by someone other than him made the situation seem far worse than it had before.

**H. Hajime: I mean, am I supposed to be wary of you?**

**K. Nagito: Sex trafficking is not uncommon within these sorts of sites. You really can't trust everyone just because they seem nice. Am I really just a 22-year-old college student? How do you know that besides what I tell you?**

The mention of illegal activity on a sugar daddy website shouldn't have surprised him but he couldn't help but feel a shiver run down his spine. He was already suspicious of Komaeda but he was just making it harder to keep talking with him. Was this a psychology major thing? Was he just trying to mess with him?

**H. Hajime: I thought they would do background checks to make sure you're actually giving the correct information.**

**K. Nagito: I forgot about that! You are smart, Hinata Hajime. Alright, I accept.**

_That was just a hunch!_

**H. Hajime: But, if we're going to be doing this, can I set a few ground rules? Like, no intimacy or anything beyond that. You can’t request anything while I’m in class, either.**

**K. Nagito: I actually had a few rules myself and I think our ideas might be clashing a bit.**

**H. Hajime: I guess we could discuss this further later, my classes are starting soon. But the intimate note is non-negotiable.**

**K. Nagito: I'm not too sure about that one.**

He should've seen this one coming. It was nice while it lasted but he didn't even know the guy so he wasn't going to get all touchy-feely with him. But Komaeda sent another question into the thread before he could cut him off.

**K. Nagito: Care to make a bet then? You'll have to break that rule of yours for just a bit.**

**H. Hajime: How exactly are we going to go about that?**

**K. Nagito: Are you willing to meet up with me? In-person?**

_Question of all questions;_ Hinata was not sure at this point if he was willing to do _anything_. His work already made him partake in salacious activity but the circumstances didn’t make it any easier.

He finally hit the end of the hallway and the counselor's name was written on a golden plaque. Underneath was the card to schedule a meeting, all the slots were filled. The blinds to see through the office were shut so he attempted to open the door. _Locked_.

Didn't Enoshima say she was supposed to be in? It could just be unfortunate timing on his part. 

He felt desperation sinking in, the back of his mind telling him this was the fucking _worst_ idea. But he just got into the university of his dreams, the need to stay here was clawing at him. 

The grip on his phone was enough to drain the blood from his fingers. He was not ready to meet up with Komaeda in person. This wasn’t a smart move but he didn’t want to ruin his chances, he felt like the odds would be best in his favor. Against his better judgment, he agreed.

**K. Nagito: Great! I'll have someone pick you up from school then. What's your university and what time do you get off?**

A little spark of pride in him went off when he realized he could type that he went to Hope’s Peak Academy, pairing it with his last class time of 1:15 PM.

**K. Nagito: Hope’s Peak? Alright, they'll notify you of their arrival but they won't be hard to miss. See you soon!**

**H. Hajime: Before we meet, can you tell me what the bet is?**

There was a short pause and Hinata feared that Komaeda had already gone offline but his phone buzzed once again.

**K. Nagito: That’s something to be discussed later. Have fun in class!**

After a couple of minutes of staring at the messages, Hinata finally regained enough understanding to see the errors he made. He didn't even know what the guy looked like and he was meeting up with him. For all he knew, Komaeda could be deceiving him.

"What am I doing?" 

There was no other choice he could conjure at the moment but to put his phone away and head to class, hoping he wouldn't mess this up. It was a hard thing to think about considering he had just agreed to a wager without knowing the stakes.

It should’ve easily been guessed when the time came — Komaeda Nagito was not in favor of making bets he _wouldn't_ win. He was a lucky man. 

And Hinata's misfortune was that _he_ was in no way _lucky_.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Finally putting the pedal to the metal with this; Komaeda will finally show up. Though even I can't bear how much he's teasing Hinata and they haven't even met.


	4. Impressions

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> “Komaeda personally requested you?”
> 
> “He did,” she beamed. “I’ve been his, what would you call it...chauffeur? His chauffeur for a while.”
> 
> “So you know him...personally?...is he nice?”
> 
> Aoi glanced up at him in the mirror, confusion apparent in her eyes. “Is this like a blind date? You guys haven’t actually met yet?”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter was supposed to be lengthier so I could add more to it but mmmm.  
> It took way too long to do but i feel like readers can tell whether someone's heart is not put into their story, or if they're just inexperienced. I'm already a novice and kind of just experimenting so I didn't want to turn this in absolute garbage since this is meant to be a more light hearted fic (...for the most part.) 
> 
> I'm probably going to experiment with different writing styles here and there so if there's any differences, that's probably the reason.

Classes were never something that Hinata believed he would have a hard time adapting to. The lecture halls itself were grand and, being a latecomer, he had to take a seat in the far back of the room. Voices bounced off the walls so it wasn’t any more of a chore to hear the professor but the aura of the class was alluring. He hadn’t taken any notes that session, not that it was of any importance to him at the time.

The desks were smooth and waxed, a stark contrast to the soft wood raked with scratches back at community college. It was a nice difference, though even something as insignificant as wooden tables were poking at Hinata. It was becoming more apparent that he didn't belong here, as much as he tried. That's why everything is turning against him instead of in his favor, or he was just remarkably unfortunate. He would lean towards the latter.

Between each break between class, he would attempt to note whether the slots in the time card for counseling were emptied out or if she was just straying around the area. He didn’t know what she looked like so it wasn’t going to get him anywhere but he pushed through, clearly dragging on for something that wasn't going to happen.

It was his first day, he knew it wasn't going to be free of burden but he really wished it wasn't because of financial expenses. Anything else would have sufficed, he could carry the pain of a stack of papers but typically someone in his shoes really shouldn't _have_ to worry about how to pay off the tuition fees. At least he _believed_ that should be the case. Especially considering that his family was fairly well off, this shouldn't have been an issue.

It _shouldn't_ have yet it was. So all he could do was let out an exhale of disappointment and get on with it.

The weight of his bag had gotten significantly heavier, straining the strap and digging into his shoulder. Greeting all his professors and catching up on missed work was going to take away much of the time he had for anything else but it was to be expected, he knew what he was getting into when applying.

Hinata, however, didn’t know how he was supposed to approach the new issue that had arisen. Komaeda had emailed him consistently throughout the morning, filling out details that made Hinata worry less but not enough to feel any more comfortable with meeting him. All he really knew was that he was meeting up with him at a kissaten somewhere remotely close to the heart of the city. He had offered other, more _expensive,_ options but Hinata was adamant about being in a place that many loitered around. And he was struggling with the atmosphere here already, he wasn’t going to sit down somewhere where business executives surrounded him. It could pass on as one of them being clientele but he knew better than that, he was arriving in his school’s blazer after all.

Though, the choices that Komaeda might have offered added to Hinata’s curiosity. Just how much does this guy make and how far was he willing to go to keep his end of the deal? Not that they had come up with a bargain just yet which only furthered his interest.

The situation he put himself in was disconcerting and he was sure anyone would wonder what was going on inside his mind when agreeing to this. At least it wasn’t predictable. 

Still, if he were to proceed like this, he knew he had to be a bit more cautious. When asked what transportation he preferred to take, he asked Komaeda to wave him a cab. He had specified he would have called a designated driver who he trusted to get where they needed to be but at least if it was company-owned, there was a slight less risk of being carted elsewhere. 

He could have someone on speed-dial, he would inform Mioda — maybe something more but he was prepared enough that it allayed some of his anxiety. But he had plenty of it so it wasn’t going away anytime soon.

He had ditched his vest halfway through the day, the heat was not worth suffocating in it. It was noted that not many seemed to care to wear the uniform at all so he could cut himself some slack. 

The afternoon was surely the busier part of the day — new faces muddled with old ones with the unfamiliar additions to the crowd — but he didn’t necessarily need to introduce himself as today’s classes were pretty much done with. Mioda still had some that went late into the evening but the gap within her schedule let her linger around the campus. She told him to meet up at the common area where they first stopped by and he _knew_ it was somewhere on the ground floor but the fact that every wall looked the same did him anything but a favor. 

After everyone was ushered into class, he pushed open the doors to what he believed was the common room. When red carpets weren’t immediately revealed, Hinata stood by the entrance a bit too long to be awkward. There were a couple of students setting at the far end of the room, as well as what seemed to be the professor. From a glance, she had a far more buoyant attitude than most of the professors at the school. His main focus, though, was dragged towards a familiar set of blonde pigtails leading most of the conversation.

Before he could turn back, a shout of a very botched version of his name kept him still. His name was one easy to remember so her pronouncing it absolutely mangle annoyed him slightly and made him feel a bit better than he should have. Enoshima grinned and she spun around, leaning over the back of the collaborative bench seating and almost knocking her elbow into the student beside her. “Freshie, there’s no classes in this lecture hall at the moment. You lost?”

“No.” He cleared his throat as he felt his voice waver. “I was just walking around.”

“Aha! Well, while you’re doing nothing, come meet Chisa!”

“Please don’t call me that,” the aforementioned professor told her, chuckling weakly. She gazed towards Hinata, giving him a much more welcoming look than Enoshima had. She was fairly young looking but the faded dark marks around her eyes made her seem just a bit older than the rest of them.

“Fine,” Enoshima groaned. “Yukizome- _kyouju_ is the English literature teacher.”

“ _Kyouju_ would be preferred over _sensei_ ,” she told Hinata. “But both are completely fine! Nice to meet you. Do you need help with something?”

The other student stayed silent, flipping through a short novel that he believed was in English since he really couldn’t decipher the language and given the teacher they were conversing with. Enoshima seemed to have noticed and ran her hand through the girl’s dark hair. It seemed to be a gentle touch at first but her fingers shook, a clear indication of her nails digging into her scalp. Besides the tenseness in her shoulders, the student didn’t seem to mind. 

“Drop the book for a minute, will you?” She did as she was told, folding the edge of the page and turning back to look at Hinata. “Introduce yourself. This is--”

“Hinata Hajime,” he intercepted before she butchered his name once again. “I’m a... I’m new.”

“Ikusaba Mukuro,” she said, turning back just as quickly. A little socially awkward but that was fair, he wasn’t making the interaction any easier.

“Well, since you’re just wandering,” she patted a blank spot next to her. “We’re learning about devices. Come come.”

“ _You_ are learning about devices,” Yukizome clarified. “Ikusaba-san is just waiting for you.”

“Eh, still. _He_ might find it interesting.” She pointed a wooden pencil at him, nail indents dressing the point. “You _look_ like the type of person who enjoys being _alone_ in a library.”

The implications of that statement hit him hard in the face but he chose to ignore them. Enoshima’s attitude was becoming more discernible but he still couldn’t assume, as much as she was making it hard not to. So he chose to walk down where they sat, a seat behind them but it still made Enoshima smile. “This is fine, right?”

Yukizome stared at him momentarily, her eyes flitting to the whiteboard streaked with various colored markers. It didn’t stick for long and she beamed. “Of course! Just don't answer the questions, that's for Enoshima-san to complete."

___

By the time he had finally arrived at where Mioda had asked to meet ages ago, his thoughts were busied with the difference between a metonym and a synecdoche in English terms, not that he was going to remember them but it helped relieve stress for a little while. 

Yukizome seemed to enjoy her job more than most, given that she went over a lesson because Enoshima asked. It must have put a dent in her lunch hours but she seemed satisfied when Enoshima could list the literary devices by heart. With how long they had been going at memorizing, it was no surprise how quickly they were shoved out of the room.

“That took _way_ too much time!” Enoshima took a few large strides ahead and spun on her heels. “Mukuro, walk _faster_. The good stuff at the canteen is probably already taken thanks to you! Go get me something before it’s all taken.”

Hinata questioned how that correlated but Ikusaba just did as she was told and sped up a bit. When she disappeared at the end of the hall, Enoshima walked back to her post, bumping shoulders with Hinata. “Siblings.”

“Hm?"

She nodded her head to where Ikusaba had run off to. “Weird, right? We’re twins! But, clearly, one of us got the better genes. Wanna guess who?”

There was no semblance that could have indicated these two were in any way related. The way Enoshima treated her, however, _could_ be explained if they had some sort of close bond. 

“I never would have guessed that,” was Hinata’s bland response.

But it spurred Enoshima on. “That’s what people usually say. Our last names don’t exactly help make it believable either but we both ended up getting scholarships to come to this school so now we’re _closer_ than before. You have any sisters, freshie?”

“A brother,” he informed. “But I wouldn’t say we have the same... _bond_? Compared to you and Ikusaba.”

“Ugh.” She waved off his statement. “ _Anyone_ would be better than Mukuro, trust me.”

He wasn’t certain if many people talked about their siblings like that but it was clear that it was just part of her character. Surely, she meant no harm. She seemed to run her mouth quite a bit but was never met with consequences so it probably just a bad habit, Enoshima seemed nice when that wasn’t the case.

The rest of the conversation was led by Enoshima, complaining about the increase in schoolwork and how Ikusaba probably didn’t even get a good lunch for her. He felt bad for being relieved when they finally came across the common area but he quickly bid her a quick goodbye and pushed into the room. There were a few quiet voices, most of the students either in class or at the cafeteria, but if there was anything Mioda had a talent for, it was being loud. Even the stare she gave him was screaming as she walked up to him, grasping his hands.

“Ibuki was worried Hajime got turned into fresh meat!”

“I was just busy.” He let Mioda take him to one of the couches and sat him down, near to a student he had recognized from this morning.

“Hinata Hajime, Owari Akane.” She gripped his hand and put it in Owari’s, moving their hands to form a fiddly sort of handshake.

“Nice to meet ya!” Her grip was firm and she shook his hands rather erratically, only stopping when Mioda let go of their hands. 

“Yes, same to you,” Hinata replied, checking his fingers for any damage. “You and Ibuki attend some of the same classes, I’m guessing?”

“Yessir,” Mioda flopped backwards and she laid her head on Owari’s thighs, steering eyes towards them. “Akane, how long has it been? Like...4 months?”

“I’m...not counting. Do the numbers matter?”

“They don’t!”

It was when Owari lifted up her hand that he noticed the stones in her bracelets spelling out _B-I-G--T-I-D-B-Y--G-F_ ; Mioda was clearly running out of beads as the _f_ was an _e_ that had the bottom line scrapped out. Suddenly, he felt _very_ out of place with how everyone was looking at their public display. They both were oblivious to it.

“We’re going to go out for lunch today,” Mioda told him, playing with her girlfriend’s nails. Black, probably Mioda’s doing. “They have student deals in the afternoon. You should come with us!”

“There’s a good soul food place running distance from here,” Owari spoke up.

The area around the campus definitely was built around the school, a university town. The stores and shops were dependent on the students who attended and, with many of the students either being on scholarships or being opulent. As much as it would help to explore the place, he already set himself for other matters to attend to.

He walked with them off school grounds, the streets more cramped than the interior of the university. There were more people who didn’t attend the college, moreso probably attending one of the business firms that were scattered around the zone. Hope’s Peak wasn’t exactly a tourist’s attraction but, besides students, there seemed to be plenty of men and women in suits and business attire that fancied being out when the students were in classes. But their cars were usually parked a safe distance away from campus grounds so it was noted that one parked alongside the sidewalk was an oddity. 

He had 1-1-0 on speed dial if something went wrong but prepping for a car ride was a bit over the top, at least for him. That was only part of what he was going to have to deal with, he still didn’t have a clue of what Komaeda exactly had planned. But he could easily walk away from it, there was no binding contract. Or he could punch him. There was always that option.

He knocked on the window, catching a glimpse of a woman with her hair tied up and messing with the stereo. Her bright blue eyes turned to look at him and he could see her mouth shape as an ‘o’ as she pressed a button near the gear stick, a click and a motion for him to enter. Hinata sat farthest away from where she did, although he slowly found there to be no point as she seemed to have intent to harm. _Seemed_.

“Hinata-san, yes?”

He nodded, scooting to the side just a bit so she could see the gesture in the rearview mirror. She smiled, turning the music on the stereo up just enough to create an ample ambience. “I’m Aoi Asahina and I’ll be your driver today.”

“Komaeda personally requested you?”

“He _did_ ,” she beamed. “I’ve been his, what would you call it... _chauffeur_ ? His _chauffeur_ for a while.”

“So you know _him_...personally?...is he nice?”

Aoi glanced up at him in the mirror, confusion apparent in her eyes. “Is this like a blind date? You guys haven’t actually met yet?”

 _Date?_ But obviously he didn’t want anyone knowing about this situation. It clearly couldn’t pass on as a study session in the middle of the city or a business meeting with a 19-year-old student. “Sort of, I guess.”

“As for your question,” she started as they left the campus grounds ,” _I_ would say he’s nice. But that is relatively a matter of opinion and experience. Everyone has their own idea of the guy, you kind of just have to see the type of first impression you get.”

 _That_ could be advice for anyone, really, but the way she phrased it made it appear as if Komaeda came across differently to everyone. Hinata couldn’t jot down how he thought Komaeda would act just yet, he came across as tame through his emails. He _could_ just be a good guy and maybe he was looking too much into the issue. It would’ve calmed his nerves a bit to know for sure how the guy looked like, or to get a lie detector and pull out every misfit of information out of him. He also mentioned a bet, one Hinata agreed to without knowing the reward or consequences. And he made sure to remove anything that would've incriminated him as a decent person but he wasn’t sure if Komaeda had already clicked the link to his _show_ or not. He might’ve out of curiosity and Hinata wouldn’t know if he would hold that over his head or if it would just make things exceedingly awkward. How do you bring something like that to a first meeting?

Hinata hoped that they could just zip past the question and get on with it but it was weighing too much on his mind to skim over it. _Surely,_ Komaeda would’ve asked if he did. 

Telling Aoi he didn’t know what he looked like and the fact that they were meeting up in the center of the city was not going to sit well with anyone but it hung on the tip of his tongue. The ride was just tossing questions about their day and snippets of their lives. He found Aoi to be a very entertaining and engaging person to speak with. If she was like this, maybe she was a magnet for good people. He should have a _little_ faith in Komaeda.

The city wasn’t a place Hinata went to often — crowds weren’t very _appealing_ to him so even the campus would take some time getting used to. With it being still early in the day, it wasn’t bustling as much as usual so the time they set was a perk. Komaeda’s schedule must have fit, as well, which was hardly believable with him taking the rigorous course of taking two majors. 

Instead of dropping him off right at the street, _apparently_ Komaeda had reserved a spot for the car until they decided to leave. While they were at a coffee shop. Which was _great,_ at least he was throwing his money around enough that he’s probably not lying about whatever he makes. They settled in a remote space in the parking lot and Aoi gave him the pleasure of walking him to the kissaten, Hinata would have not known where to go with the platforms and open areas leading elsewhere.

“Nagito will already be there but he’ll want the keys,” she said, swinging said items around her finger. “He told me that he has a seat by the window. If he’s not there, just tell the server and they’ll direct you to the booth he booked.”

“Booked?” Aoi looked over her shoulder and raised her brows at Hinata’s perplexion. “This is just over _coffee_ , right?”

“Coffee, yes.” But the wink she added made him think otherwise. “I think he’s just trying to impress you, though.”

“Well, he’s gonna have to do better than being flashy.” A _lot_ better.

“I’m sure he will. He’s a generally good person, you know?”

“I’m sure he is.”

Aoi marched forward and held the door for him, her eyes searching for the booth they had reserved. “The seat is in the far back. I’ll drop off the keys and leave you be, alright?” She handed off the keys to the greeter in the front, letting Hinata wander around the shop for the time being. Komaeda labeled it as a _small_ place that he found to be comfortable for their meeting. Even in his terms of _small_ , Hinata would have never stepped foot near this store in any other conditions.

It smelt of coffee ground, wood, and _wealth_ . It _stunk_ of it, he could practically see the bills welling up in their safes. He could be certain, for now, that Komaeda was serving his time on the Sugar Daddy website for a reason. He had money to spare.

He strode to the booth Aoi directed him to and noticed that a jacket was dropped over one side. Hinata took the other seat and picked up one of the teal pillows, fiddling with the ends of it. Never had he been in a place meant to serve food that also had the money to throw in extra ornamentation and decor like this. It was uncomfortable.

Now that he was _here,_ Hinata was unnerved. Komaeda wasn't here yet, he could just leave. Email him that the deal was off and never do this again. The last time he talked to an absolute stranger in this setting was for an interview. It was going so well until they had to look through his records. His anxiety really screwed him over there, the customer getting hit was their own fault. But he had to suffer the consequences and now he had to resort to _this._ If Komaeda used what he did for a living against him, it would just be the same cycle.

Aoi said to give him a chance but he just _couldn't._

There was a loud clatter that pulled him out of his thoughts, followed by something dampening the front of his uniform. He whipped his head around to see a jug rolling at his feet, now empty with the contents sullying Hinata's shirt. Plates made a mess of the floral carpeting, food stains that would take hours to clean soaking into the floor. The waiter looked positively mortified, trying to pick up remnants of the utensils that could be salvaged.

The man closest to the event stepped aside, letting the workers take care of the issue and took long strides to where Hinata was sitting. His jade eyes were a clear distinction of his fear, Hinata not knowing the cause.

"Are you alright?"

His voice was breathy, somehow mixing well with the tone bordering between high and low. It was quiet enough that Hinata couldn't tell if it was raspy or just a tad bit gruff. 

And Hinata would respond with a normal answer to his question if he wasn't so on edge. "Obviously not."

"Ah, sorry." He said it as if it was his fault. He picked up the empty jug and placed it on the cart that was slowly piling up with broken dishes and ruined meals. "This is pretty bad for a first meeting, huh?"

 _Oh._ "You're Komaeda Nagito."

It was voiced with disdain but the man lit up at the sound of his name. 

"Aha, yes. I'm...sorry about the uniform. I'll buy you a new one."

So much for first impressions.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> These are just terms I defined in case it was difficult to catch on--
> 
> Kissaten: a Japanese styled tea-room, doubling as a coffee shop
> 
> Soul-food: ethnic cuisine originating from Southern USA
> 
> 1-1-0: the number used to contact the police in Japan. Japan has different numbers depending on the situation but this number is specifically for police, involving in crimes and accidents.
> 
> If I got anything wrong, don't be afraid to call me out on it, I would like to be as culturally accurate as possible.  
> And on another note, I will put warnings at the top of each chapter with anything nsfw-related (for people who are just not comfortable. It's clear quite a few young-gens here just simply do not care so that completely up to them!)


	5. Tact

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> “Can I be frank for a moment?”
> 
> Hinata adjusted his stance to stand a little taller, the rigidity in the air became more present as he stared him down. “Sure?”
> 
> “You’ve never done this before, have you?”
> 
> He almost said “no.” Komaeda’s face told him that wasn’t the right answer.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This took too long and it isn't even edited but I need to get this out before I started on other projects.  
> I also really needed to put up the Explicit tag after what Komaeda just did because he's freaky and I'm freaky.
> 
> Enjoy very awkward first meetings and Hinata's new found obsession over Komaeda’s voice

Before coming here, Hinata didn’t realize just how _many_ teas there were as his simple tastes only had him drinking green tea. Given the opportunity, he felt obligated to pick something that wasn’t as bland but he had definitely caught himself staring at the genmaicha more than once.

The sound of nails against glass only rushed the process, having him glance up longer than he was actually looking at the menu. Certainly he couldn’t be the _only_ one that was nervous, he wasn’t the one to cause a scene. Hinata could still feel the employees peeking in their direction, hoping to not have their clumsiness be the root of another accident. 

The man in front of him clearly was not as concerned. He had the menu flat on the table, peering down as he rapped his nails against the glass of water resting to the left of him. He was breathing a bit heavily to the point where Hinata could hear it over the soft music playing in the background. Or maybe Hinata was just being a creep.

But taking the chance to actually look at him, whilst continuing to be a _creep_ , maybe the white wisps of hair could tell him that maybe he was older than he said he was. But he had far too young of a face to resemble the features of an older man, though cosmetic surgery was always a thing. Komaeda did mention he was in college but he seemed almost too shriveled. He would have to trust in the background checks on that website for now.

It was his eyes that Hinata was most enticed by and, possibly, if the man had a profile picture on the website, those would probably make him stop and check him out. Which was not _weird_ but when Komaeda’s eyes flitted upwards, Hinata realized just how uncomfortable the situation was.

Komaeda kept eye contact with him a while longer before giving him a smile.

“Have you picked something?”

At least his voice was nice, more genuine and not strained. Unlike Hinata’s, unfortunately.

He shook his head, training his eyes to stay glued to the words on the paper. “No no, still looking. Um, you can order the tea-- _your_ tea... if you want.”

“I just think it would be easier to order together.” Komaeda picked up his menu and flipped to the back, already deciding on what to eat. “Take your time.”

If he took his time, they would be here till closing. He mimicked the man in front of him, picking up his glass and hoping the water would cool him off a bit. They had just got glasses instead of a jug after what had happened, his jacket draped over the back of his chair to dry off. Hinata wasn’t sure how Komaeda _wasn’t_ as anxious, he was the one to make that colossal mess. But if he could brush it off, surely Hinata should too.

But he was genuinely too calm for Hinata’s liking. Komaeda was 22, he was fairly young too so he shouldn’t have done anything like this _before_ . _Shouldn’t._ But he could be _lying._ Then the background checks couldn’t make sense but nothing about this guy was lining up.

They were ten minutes into the meeting and Hinata already felt the heat getting to him. 

Eventually, he decided on a drink and dropped the menu, alerting Komaeda to do the same. He flashed another charming grin and Hinata almost felt embarrassed that he wasn’t as timorous about the situation. The man waved for a server and it was when he lifted his glass that Hinata noticed it was already empty. Maybe the heat was getting to him, too.

"Hinata-san, your order?"

His voice was _really_ nice, _wow_. It cut through his tension quickly enough that he felt his shoulders sag in ease, the small smirk on Komaeda's face going completely ignored.

"Yeah, is jasmine tea alright?”

There was no point in asking, Komaeda was sort of mandated to agree. So he nodded, informing their server of the order and leaving them with their menus no longer serving as a barricade. Komaeda smiled wider and Hinata quickly managed a subtle one in response before acknowledging he probably looked discomfited. 

“I hope I didn’t pull you out at a bad time.” His grin faltered and with his awkwardness, the room became less and less taut. “Hope’s Peak Academy isn’t the easiest university to go by.”

“I’m fine, classes end early today so it wasn’t hard to manage.” Taking another look, Komaeda couldn’t compare to a college student, he undoubtedly wouldn’t be able to be pinned as one. The skin under his eyes was dark and stretched and his skin was pale, though not entirely a bad sort of complexion. He still looked generally young and peppy, minus the tiredness and the white hair and Hinata wouldn’t be as on edge about meeting with him. It could be argued that the bags could have come from actual _college_ work. “Um, did you go today? To university?”

“I did! But my schedule is a bit wobbly at the moment so we probably won’t come across each other.”

 _Come across?_ Hinata narrowed his eyes in thought, visibly noting Komaeda relaxing more than the typical response he was looking for. “You... _also_ attend Hope’s Peak?”

He shrugged. “I do mainly online classes. Makes managing anything personal matters easier.”

Hinata pondered as to what these personal matters could be seeing as this man claims to have enough money to care for _his_ expenses. Odd how they would have to meet under these circumstances but it was pretty much guaranteed they wouldn’t have met otherwise, Komaeda being a decent number of years older and most probably being busier than him.

“Why take two majors if you have that many personal matters to have to take them at home?”

Komaeda’s eyes widened before Hinata could hear the slightest chuckle arise from him. “You don’t do just _casual_ small talk, do you?”

He was forward by nature, was there a need to tone it down? Maybe, if that reason was trying to make enough money to not get kicked out of his dream school. “Sorry, I’m just curious. Psychology and literature, right?”

“Yeah, both studies I’m very interested in!” The way his smile curved as he spoke, Hinata noticed, actually reached his eyes this time. But as quickly as the expression came, he calmed down and rested his head in his palms. “Ah, but don’t let me rant about it. What about you, Hinata-san?”

“What about…” There was nothing in the books about being undecided ruining his chances at this. Talking about himself so early wouldn’t make much for an enthralling conversation in the slightest. “I don’t know yet. But what made you decide on yours?”

“For typical reasons,” he said simply. “I enjoyed reading as a kid, anything else did not really stick. Psychology is just intriguing so there’s nothing stopping anyone from indulging.”

 _Money_ would stop someone from indulging but that distinction was already made with how he both of them were seated across from each other. He gave off a much more poised, more _prosperous_ aura with the way he spoke in such a soft tone that dripped with imperturbability. It was that way, even when all the dishes fell as he strode up to him, he didn’t bat an eye at the mess. It might just be a part of privilege, it could also be that he’s careless. But Komaeda clearly wasn’t the latter with how he was leading the discussion.

“Going to such a grandiose college without having decided what you want to do is risky work, Hinata-san. What exactly pushes you to go along with attending?”

“What a... _sudden_ way to ask that question.”

Komaeda stayed silent, the grin seemingly plastered on his face permanently as it stayed put until Hinata broke the silence. He much preferred it if Komaeda would keep speaking. 

“I’ve pretty much had Hope’s Peak on the top of my list since junior high school. Probably with everyone talking about it _all_ the time, but I guess for good reason. Obviously, it’s a very good place to attend, hence the expenses and it being a name school.”

Komaeda nodded. “And the expenses are why you’re here?”

“Clearly, I believe I mentioned this before.”

He was quick to apologize. “My memory seems to be failing me.”

Hinata rebuffed his apols just as the server came back with their tea. Jasmine tea was considerably more fragrant than his usual pick and his inexperience with it was clearly expressed when he had to take another glance at the teapot. A plate of rice crackers was placed in between them, Hinata being the first to take one and stuff his mouth as an excuse to cease his speech. The tea was paler than typical green tea and, maybe it was due to the wealth wafting through the air, he could barely bring himself to pick up the cup.

“Rest assured, I’m only here if you want me to be,” Komaeda continued, briefly taking a moment to let the tea cool off. “That’s what this whole matter is, anyhow.”

Right, _he_ was the decision maker of this ordeal. Hinata didn’t have enough to deduce whether or not Komaeda would be trustworthy or not and he sure as _hell_ wasn’t going to leave it up to chance. Komaeda possibly lying could be knocked out from the possibilities, for now.

“Yeah.” Hinata let his nails trace the grooves of his cup, almost hoping some other disaster would come across them to make this conversation less stilted. “You said that you liked my...freckles?”

“Hm?”

“The emails you sent said you were sending donations because you liked my freckles.” 

Komaeda blinked before slowly nodding in understanding. “Mmhmm, yep! What of it?”

“I _just_ \--there could have been so many better choices. I don’t see how freckles was the determining factor.”

The perpetual smile that pasted itself on his face faded into a slight frown. “I’m not sure if judging my choices would be the right path to take, Hinata-san.”

Considering the decisions he was making himself, Komaeda was right. He was sure it wasn’t supposed to sound as much of a threat as it did but the thought didn’t do much to help with his composure. 

“I’m not _judging_ , just confused.” Besides what appealed to _Komaeda_ , there wasn’t anything eye-catching about him that could have roped him in. Unless he ended up clicking the link that Mioda had so kindly put in his bio. 

“Most people would say _“oh, thank you”_ but that’s really it. I think you’re cute and your profile was nice.” Hinata felt his face getting warmer than the tea in his hands as Komaeda pulled out his phone, a block of pink flashing over his pupils. “Ah, did you change it? The other one was nice, but this is pretty great, too.”

If a knife came flying towards him, he would just sit still and let it take him. Mioda was going to get told when this was over and done with. 

“ _Stop_ , it’s really not.” He felt himself reaching the limits of his patience when Komaeda peered up from his phone, lingering for a while before tucking the device away and bringing his attention back to his tea. “Are you sure it wasn’t something _else_?”

Komaeda shook his head. “What else are you looking for?”

“ _Nothing_ , nevermind.”

The awkwardness hung heavy over them once again and Hinata could feel Komaeda’s feet shift uncomfortably under the table. His expression was blank now, no real hints of annoyance or uneasiness as Hinata would have thought he would have felt. But his voice no longer filling the silence did not help his case.

He took the chance to actually take a sip of his lukewarm beverage, the floral taste coating the inside of his mouth. Tasted like someone crushed the flower over his tongue but he chugged it to give him a suitable reason for grabbing two more crackers. Komaeda’s gaze stayed lowered into his cup until the motion of breaking the rice crackers made him look back up, raise an eyebrow, and lift the menus.

“If you’re hungry, you could always order something.”

“No,” Hinata mumbled through the crumbs in his mouth. He _really_ didn’t want to be indebted to him, though that was hard considering what comes from relationships such as this. "It's okay."

"The trade off here is that you spare time and, in return, I pay you for whatever necessary during that time. It's not time well spent if you're not using it to your advantage, Hinata-san."

There wasn't much of an argument to be made here but Hinata was going through at least ten different ways to discredit his statement. He didn't necessarily _have_ to spend anything, though an omelette would really do well to help settle his nerves. Glancing down at the menu, the prices would have placed him in an insubstantial finance. They had platters too, making him believe that this was one of those cafés that people had gatherings to discuss certain means. Luckily, none of those people seemed to be here today so being in his uniform while sitting across someone who looked no less than voguish didn't feel as out of place. But it _definitely_ was. 

"Would you buy me a platter if I asked?"

Komaeda cocked his head, lowering his cup. "Depends, will you _finish_ the entire platter?"

He wouldn't but seeing as Komaeda didn't deny him it, would this acquaintanceship _actually_ work and do him good? Still, he decided against testing the boundaries and went for a tamagoyaki, hoping that ordering eggs wouldn't add to his demise.

"This would’ve been easier if I didn’t rush you out of school,” Komaeda sighed. “You’re probably tired.”

Mentally that statement pertained to him as he was trying to keep himself from bouncing his leg under the table. It didn’t help that his limbs knocked with Komaeda’s on the occasion when he would shift his footing, the tip of his shoe running up against Hinata’s shin. He tucked his feet closer to himself but the space in between them was compact, he could _feel_ the man’s presence and that felt off much _more_ than actually touching him did.

“Yeah, um, I’m--can I use the restrooms?”

He looked at him through his eyelashes before nodding and taking one of the remaining crackers in the basket in front of them. “You don’t need my permission.”

___

Fortunately for Hinata’s sake, the restroom was for one person at a time and didn’t consist of stalls. It made moping in front of the mirror a lot easier as he rang up Mioda, his mouth snapping open when he heard the buzzing end only to be met with the beginning of the voice messaging system. A text along the lines of _smooching my gf_ popped up and Hinata knew he wasn’t going to be able to lean on her for now.

The front of his hair was shaggy and damp from splashing water at his face constantly whenever he could hear his feet clack against the floor, reminiscing on Komaeda’s coy smile. There was no way his voice sounded so _melodious_ without having to swig a cup of oil every morning. 

He turned the faucet on again when he felt his face get warm.

“Oh _no..._ ” If things kept up this way, there was no way he would be able to dedicate himself to any sort of bond with Komaeda.

Brushing his hair away from his forehead, Hinata gave himself a long look in the mirror and huffed as he noticed his black tie loosely hanging around his neck. It was still mildly stained from the water, a splash of a bolder jet black over the usual dark grey. He yanked it off and stuffed it in his pocket, fixing his collar to look marginally better and making his way back to their seating arrangement. 

Komaeda was on his phone again, reading through emails that Hinata couldn’t decode from afar. He approached the table, noticing Komaeda’s slight grimace at a certain passage in a specific excerpt but he just exhaled and seemingly ignored it. From what little Hinata could grasp from this man, he could at least keep his cool.

“Are you alright?”

There was a soft gruff that was barely noticeable until he said “nothing to be concerned about” in a much more exhausted tone than before. But it didn’t keep up when he smiled _again_ and got up from his seat, blocking Hinata from getting to his. “Can I be frank for a moment?”

Hinata adjusted his stance to stand a little taller, the rigidity in the air became more present as he stared him down. “Sure?”

“You’ve never done this before, have you?”

He almost said “no.” Komaeda’s face told him that wasn’t the right answer, the man fiddling with his collar to busy himself because Hinata probably looked moronic with his mouth gaped open and nothing coming out. That was enough of a response when Komaeda motioned for Hinata to follow him and grabbed his drying coat as they went.

“I think we both clearly have different ideas of what we want, referring back to the emails we traded with each other.” Komaeda grabbed his keys from the front and Hinata’s head could _not_ comprehend what was going to come from this. His eyes followed Komaeda and he grabbed an apple from the bowl by the window, he wasn't sure if he had permission to be doing that. He paced up to Komaeda who was swinging his keys around his fingers while speaking.

“How willing are you to go along with this, Hinata-san?”

Hinata hadn’t put much thought into the question. He was already posting licentious acts on the internet, he would say that he’s pretty desperate. Though, he wouldn’t be in this mess if anyone bothered to help him. Komaeda seemed willing enough and it was a meeting off the internet set blindly by his friend. How willing _was_ he?

“It might help if you give me more insight.”

“I’m giving you a choice, you’re allowed to tell me to stop at any time.”

Hinata felt himself heating up again and he did _not_ pack a water bottle. "What is it?"

"Here's what we're going to do," he told him, clicking a button on his keys and the locks echoing through the parking lot. Hinata pulled open the door and was less shocked to have Komaeda tossing him the apple as he stepped in. "You said you didn't want me touching you, I really don't think I'll be able to abide by those rules. There is nothing stopping you from ditching the scene but if you choose to stay, that will place the bet in order."

Right, the _bet_. Hinata shuffled back so his back rested against the car door, his brows knitting together when Komaeda pulled out his phone again and began to set a timer. "What is the bet?"

Komaeda hummed. "Ten minutes is fair, I think."

"Seven minutes."

"If you are already bargaining minutes–," Komaeda chaffed "–why are you _asking_ what the bet is?"

His **_voice_ ** , this was _not_ fair. 

"But I'll enlighten you." He placed the apple and timer down on the cup holders, leaning in as Hinata seated himself properly. He already knew but he was _stubborn_ and didn't have much to lose, just a lot more to gain.

"Seven minutes." Komaeda tapped at the screen. "Last before then and we'll abide by your rules. Lose and we stick to mine. I won't be needing seven, however."

Hinata gritted his teeth, leaning in much more than would be deemed necessary. "Cocky much?" 

"If you think so. But I promise you, I'm right."

And Hinata was not sure how he ended up being pressed against the door again, giving into Komaeda as he wrapped his legs around his waist. 

"I could make you come in less than five."

Hinata wasn't sure if he wanted him to be wrong. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Genmaicha: simply said, just green tea with popped rice.
> 
> Tamagoyaki: a staple in Japan, it's simplified to being a rolled omelette
> 
> I don't know if anyone was expecting that and ,to be honest, me neither. My hands sort of just slipped,,

**Author's Note:**

> Just...this is not the extent of my writing!  
> It's my first time writing something in this category so we'll see how it goes. But because I don't have a certain fixed plot just yet if there's something you want to see happen, you can drop it in the comments and I'll be sure to check it out.


End file.
